Culinary Series – Simple and delicious Baingan Bhaji
21 Jan 2011 2 Comments
in Food, Recipes Tags: baingan bhaji, brinjal recipe, indian brinjal recipe
So Jiggy came over to Mumbai the other day and as usual displayed her lowwee and talent for cooking. I got inspired enough to click pictures of all that we managed to make that day 
..So here is a series of recipes all of which came out really well.
To begin with here is a super simple and delicious baingan(brinjal) recipe to go with roti or paratha or rice.
Ingredients :
Bharta Baingan (The large brinjal) - 1
Tomatoes – 2
Hing (asafoetida)
Methi (fenugreek) Seeds
Sarson Ka Tel (Mustard Oil)
Turmeric powder
Red chilli powder
Dhania Powder (Or use Sambar Powder if you have that)
Salt
Method :
Dice the brinjal into big pieces and keep aside
Heat 2-3 tbsps of Mustard Oil for atleast a minute before throwing in 1 tspn of Methi Seeds and a tspn of Hing.
Stir for 30 seconds and add in the Brinjal.Stir it so that the oil covers a bit of all the pieces.
Now cut the tomatoes and toss them into the Kadai.
Put in all the other masala – Turmeric Powder, Dhania Powder (or Sambar Powder), Chilli Powder, Salt to taste
Cover it and let it steam for 10-15 minutes (Or until the brinjal is done).
Tada.Thats it…Slurrpp..It was so easy to make and I loved its taste…It has no onions ..is a no frills kinda sabji and yet I could eat the sabji as it is and still not get enough of it! Do give it a try with Mustard Oil…I usually don’t like the smell of sarson ka tel..but with this it really brings out the baingan flavor and the sarson ka tel flavor is very subtle .
Here is a snapshot of the dish..I was surprised I saved some of it for the photograph ..Baingan is seriously driving me crazy these days..I need more baingan recipessssss…
Why guns rage over trivial issues?
14 Jan 2011 1 Comment
in delhi, India Tags: Delhi crime rate, Delhi Trivial Issue Crime, Jessica lall case
I finally got to watch Noone Killed Jessica the day before and came out feeling really disturbed about how our country and its systems function. In the end, Jessica did end up getting a fair trial but it took 10 years and a whole lot of media frenzy to get that to happen. This sort of law evasion is possible only if every arm gets twisted, every person, every police gets manipulated into rigging the entire system. I am amazed at how people readily buy into freeing a crazy man who for the most trivial of things takes a life. What gives him the right? It was so frustrating to see witnesses turn hostile. I honestly don’t know what I would do if faced with the choice of my life or facing my conscience. I am hoping that I’d be able to live with myself and keep the faith on the police doing its job. If it was some girl at a party now, it could be you tomorrow if these guys are let to escape any form of punishment.
Take the Jessica case again …Just because Manu was a minister’s son, the entire system was willing to bend and let him off. Even after being arrested in 2009, he was given a 60 day bail where he was spotted in several parties while he was supposed to be attending to a sick mother! The insane killer out at night clubs again!!! Is a politician really the GOD for our country? Is his word always the bible for those maintaining law and order in our country? I wonder if this is why Delhi has become a hotbed for crimes over trivial reasons. It is a city filled with politicians and people with power in their heads. This probably implies that anyone who knows a friend of a cousin of a son of the minister can get away with practically anything. And maybe this is why people are roaming around with guns waiting to show their power at the slightest provocation.
It has become an almost everyday event in Delhi (as the papers report) for people on the street to take out guns and shoot each other over trivial things like accidentally opening the door of a car on a passerby or someone splashing water on a customer’s clothes by mistake. It makes me wonder why this is becoming a trend in the Capital of our country ? Why is nobody in control of their rage and does anyone understand the consequence of holding a gun in his hand? I am honestly searching for an underlying reason which could someday be addressed to stop this. Why are there so many people roaming around with guns in their pockets in the first place? Should gun licenses be re-looked at ? Is it necessary for everyone who feels the least bit insecure to possess a gun? Or is it just that so many politicians in one place makes everyone dizzy with drunken power that they think its inconsequential to take another life in any which way. The psyche of many people in Delhi has probably been shaped to feel that to get out of jail, all you need is to find a contact who has a connection with some minister. The city seems to have developed norms and laws which aren’t like any other just because of the whole “power and politics” equations.
I frankly don’t know if Delhi is really unsafe or the media makes it a point to report all possible such cases from the capital. But I have heard so many real cases of the city being unsafe and the city police being not very co-operative. So many questions and I don’t have the answers. Although I do think that if the police and the judiciary system are trustworthy then these incidents will be rare. The Aarushi case is another case in point where evidence has apparently been tampered with! Pay these guys more so that they aren’t tempted by bribes so much. Instead of increasing salaries for politicians for whom the “actual” salary has rarely mattered, increase it for the law enforcing personnel of our country who need it more to protect themselves inorder to protect us… I don’t know what I would do to solve any of this, but I just felt like ranting after watching that movie..
.Here’s to making the capital more safe for everyone…
The year that whizzed by
14 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in New Year
Happpy NEW Yeaarr to one and all..
I came up with this ridiculous idea to relive every month of 2010 through my google chats and bring out the highlights from it ..(Yes so what If i am jobless) . Also considering my horrid memory, google chat logs is a fun and great way to remember things which ought to be remembered.
January 2010
Can see the numerous Resume Version Number X mails going around between Shnoo And Me. Cannot see much of difference between Version 1 and Version 6 though ) But realising WHY I did not get shortlisted with such a resume now ..
Last minute ELP presentation work . It was the one thing which went positively for me this month. Was fun doing the project with Prabhu n Somu..All our discussions meant for ELP which always used to veer to a totally unrelated topic , the Nalanda trip in October , Prabhu’s love for the environment.. A great experience and thankfully a great presentation at the end of it. We were so delighted that day to hear good feedback ..
Got an unexpected mail that Me and Jiggy were through to the Finals of “MarketPlace”, an event in IIM Calcutta. I remember going through the first round in a stupor!! So it was interesting to be shortlisted. We decided to go to Calcutta and compete in the Finals. Was a fun trip with Jigs the Pigs. Even managed to visit South City Mall with Vineetha Kaka and Vichu in the 1.5 day trip we made ) We made a good presentation which wasn’t much on the execution side but I thought it rocked the Strategy side. Funny part was how I called Wildstone a “Cheap” brand in front of its Managing Directors. Maybe that is why we din’t win anything. I had hoped they’d appreciate my honesty
Placements start and the agonizing wait for a “shortlist” also starts. I am still under the illusion that I wasn’t being shortlisted because I wasn’t applying to many companies. Little did I know the story will stretch forever regardless of whether I was applying or not !!! 
February 2010
Celebrated my second anniversary with Atul by going for Dinner to “N-Grill”. Nice place, great food (really small portions though). Spent a nice week in Mumbai before the “Placement Week” Started. The take home Corporate Governance Exam was good fun. I was writing tales and tales using the coolest sounding words. )
Priya’s Wedding was coming up and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I was STILL under the illusion that if I applied to the “right” companies, they would shortlist me. Had to advance my ticket back from Chennai without seeing either the Reception or Muhurtham for a stupid stupid company which finally did not shortlist me. Ughh..How angry I was..and irritated. Made the resolution to never miss any friend’s wedding for trivial things like “hoping for a shortlist”!!
Not a great month. One entire “placement” week goes by without me applying for a single company. I think only 4-5 turned up and I wasn’t interested. it was one hell of a boring and Velaa week in ISB.
Holi came and went and it was great fun…Atul was laughing so much that it was hilarious
Mar 2010
Last term at ISB. No mood to attend classes apparently..or do assignments.. One particular course which I had “personally” recommended was Database Marketing whose assignments were the most tortorous ever..esp in the LAST term. But the classes in particular were actually fun since we were allowed to use laptops and spent this time Chating and facebooking and looking at photos..That din’t help us much during assignment time. Got cursed super-types by Jiggy and Shnoo for having suggested this course to them ..
April 2010
Convocation was really emotional actually.. Will miss ISB, my quaddies, my other friends, the parties, the classes but at the same time I was reallly glad to be living together with Atul again.. …Meanwhile, after passing out me and jiggy wanted to prank call our quads back in ISB and sing “one little two little three little indiansss” in a sooper spooky voice..sigh me likes spooky little indian songs
Nothing much happening on the job front, hopeful still though and applying to many many companies
Thanks to security threats in Bangalore, I got to watch Chennai SuperKings match at DY Patil.. Have already blogged about that!
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I have realised that I chat way tooo extensively and getting into chat logs is like diving into the Marine Trench in the Pacific Ocean .. I have a minimum of 400 chat logs for every month!! Gosh..So well am giving up on this “assignment” inspite of being vela. Its a surprise I got till Apri ..actually its a surprise that YOU got till here reading hehe..l!
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